As I have just finished a writeup on the E series (the newer version) I thought I would also do a writeup on the older RL series. I do not think these are in production anymore. If I recall correctly, they were about the last marine product put out by Raytheon (which split off to become Raymarine). However, since many of the older boats still have these units, some review might be helpful to boat buyers when the vessel they are purchasing has these units. Please excuse any unintentional mistakes in this writeup since I have not actually used these for several years now.

RL 70 (CRC)

Would it be fair to call it fairly trend setting for its time? I think so. In my opinion, they held the market then and the Garmin products were not well developed or sought after... if they were even around. The leading competitor in my opinion was probably Furuno, whose specialization in radar, really carried them forward.

The RL series came in monochrome black and white, or color (if designated in C). The 70 stood for 7 inch display. They were taunted as truly daylight viewable - especially the color series. I put a color series at the Nav and had a B&W at the helm. This probably was a mistake because the color unit gave much better resolution. I always found the B&W unit difficult to see in direct daylight, though not as bad if it was not really bright. The color unit was by far superior.

Many of the functions that were present on that unit were carried over to the new E series. You can read above what those are. Some exceptions that I am aware of are the overlay for radar, camera, and weather ability. The course plotting and waypoint settings all work(ed) similar to the new E series. Those that are upgrading will easily navigate through the E/C series units.

I have to say that there are a few differences that make the E/C series units well superior to the older units. They are:

1) Daylight viewable. Much better resolution and brightness.

2) Scrolling. This is a big one. I always found the R series slow to scroll across the screen. The refresh took a while too.

3) The radar overlay. To the best of my knowledge, the old units did not do that. If I am wrong, I apologize.

4) MARPA. This stands for Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid. This is a function that was once only utilized by commercial ships to overlay up to X number of contacts (the E series is limited to 10, as I recall) and plot their course against your heading. They warn you if there is the potential for a collision. To the best of my knowledge, the old units would not do this. This is a nice function to have when crossing shipping lanes or on busy harbors.

5) AIS. Not sure they would take that input. I am not sure it was around then (which it may have been) but I had not heard of it.

I cannot think of a lot of other differences. I will say that I did have some problems early on with my units suddenly locking up. They ended up replacing the unit to get the problem resolved. Other than that, it worked fine and was an awesome tool to have on board.

Can we request Reviews here too?
I did a search on a furler unit Schaefer Snapfurl CF-700 and did not get many hits but I am sure there are a few out there that have this unit or something similar and could provide some feedback. It is for a smaller boat 24'-28' but I have noticed there are numerous owners in that range. I did a google search on it and found lots of supplier/sales info but not a lot in the way of customer reviews. Any experience with this unit out there?

It was suggested that I post my review of the the Wonder clean, washing machine here.

About 1.5 years ago I bought the wonder clean for my boat. I have since sold the farm and I am living in an apartment. No washing machine. The wonder clean does a great job of cleaning cloths. Doesn't use a lot of water to wash, but I've found that it does take more water to rinse then they claim. Still, I have put very dirty jeans and a couple of golf shirts in it and they come out clean. Also ringing out the cloths when your done washing them, is a bit of a pain. The other downside on a boat is where to store it. I have a large cockpit locker, so it isn't a problem for me, but I could see how it could be a problem for others. All in all, one of the best $42.00 I've spent.

EDITED BY CD: I edited this simply to put the title in the subject line. That is all I changed.

__________________S/V Scheherazade
-----------------------
I had a dream, I was sailing, I was happy, I was even smiling. Then I looked down and saw that I was on a multi-hull and woke up suddenly in a cold sweat.To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I use110V work lights around the house but every second time I go to use one I manage to give it a little bump and the filament in the bulb goes. A real PITA. The last thing I need on the boat.

I discovered an all-LED work light from bulbtronics.com. It is a bit expensive ($35), but it is perfect for working in the engine compartment. It runs off 12VDC, 110AC or its own internal NiCads. There is plenty of light and I can never burn myself by touching it And there are no filaments !

Related suggestion: there are now bath towels made from a similar material, available in REI and other camping stores. They are super-absorbent and roll up into a compact form. I carry one on my charter voyages, leaves room for a bottle in my bag.

Three must haves for the Sailor's toolkit are Boeshield T9, McLube SailKote and LanoCote.

Boeshield T9 is a great water displacing light lubricant that also protects metals from corrosion. I spray my tool boxes and their contents with T9 regularly to help protect the tools from corroding.

SailKote is the best dry film lubricant I've found and is good for coating sail tracks, genoa tracks, sail slugs, roller furling foils and many other items on a sailboat that need to slide or move freely, but you don't want to collect dirt. Unlike Boeshield T9, McLube SailKote won't attract dirt at all, and dries to a thin, almost invisible film. I use SailKote once a season or so on the mast mainsail track, genoa tracks, mainsheet traveler, and roller furling foil.

LanoCote is a paste that is made from anhydrous lanolin and works well as a galvanic isolation compound between aluminum and stainless steel. It also works quite well as an anti-galling/anti-siezing compound for use on stainless steel to stainless steel contact. The one downside to the stuff is it looks like baby cack... When commissioning my boat in the spring, I use LanoCote on all the screw-pin shackles on the boat, as well as most of the bimini/dodger fittings so I can be sure to take them apart at the end of the season.

BTW, The Seafit Miracle cloth is one product that most Sailnetters and Practical Sailor agree on.

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Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

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